Gary Sparrow | Goodnight Sweetheart Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Portrayed by: Nicholas Lyndhurst Gary Sparrow is the fictional main character in the long-running TV sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart which lasted from 1993 to 1999 and ran for six series. The character is portrayed by Nicholas Lyndhurst, most famous as Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses. Biography Edit In the first episode of the first series it is revealed that Gary Sparrow is a somewhat bored TV repair man living in 1990s London, in the area of Cricklewood. He currently married to Yvonne, who is a sterotypical power woman of the time and corporate minded yet socially and environmentally aware. While he is out on a TV repair job he finds himself in an unfamiliar part of the East End and asks a policeman for directions. Unknown to him, this is actually the grandson of PC Reg Deadman - one of the first characters Gary meets when he first stumbles across the time portal that leads him back to 1940s London of yesteryear.

There, he also meets Phoebe Bamford and her father Eric who run the local pub - The Royal Oak. The first time Gary enters the Royal Oak, he thinks its some 1940s themed pub, but it is only when an air raid occurs that he realises he's travelled back in time. Once discovering that he can get back to the present, Gary begins making regular visits back to the forties and ends up having an affair with Phoebe - who at the time is still married to Donald Bamford - a British soldier serving in the Second World War. Gary's only modern day best friend is Ron Wheatcroft - who is married to Stella - and he is able to confide in him about his travels as they get more complicated, such as when he and Phoebe get married or when she has his baby, a son called Michael. Because Ron is a printer, Gary is able to get him to replicate white fivers - the money used at the time - and other items such as ration or identity cards although this ends up eventually being responsible for Ron's marriage disintergrating as the series continues.

Ron also helps him to come up with excuses to explain to Yvonne where he's been when travelling back in time to the past. Because he is from the future, Gary is able to tell people about when certain wartime events are going to happen. In one episode, Is Your Journey Really Nescessary? he darts back to warn Pheobe, Reg and Eric when an air raid is going to happen. Instead of telling any of them that he's from the future - he instead claims he's a secret agent and in another episode that also he's going to America. Gary also plays classic songs on the piano - for example, When I'm Sixty-Four and pretending he wrote them. In reality, he's just an ordinary bloke living in another time and married to another woman and actually also committing fraud. Neither Phoebe (who was ill in hospital and unconcious when Gary tried to tell her) or Reg (who was drunk when Gary tried to tell him) find out that Gary is a time traveller from the future. In the final episode, Accentuate the Positive, the time portal closes for good, leaving him trapped in the past permanently with Phoebe, son Michael and Reg.

Thus Gary and Yvonne are seperated, with his best friend Ron having to tell her the whole truth in the 1990s. Goodnight Sweetheart: Musical future for time travel show? - BBC News BBC News Goodnight Sweetheart: Musical future for time travel show? By Tim Masters Entertainment and arts correspondent, BBC News 17 November 2013 Read more about sharing. Close share panel Image caption Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary (centre), with (clockwise from top left) Victor McGuire as Ron, Christopher Ettridge as PC Reg Deadman, Dervla Kirwan as Phoebe and Michelle Holmes as Yvonne Twenty years after the first episode of sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart, its creators still hope it will return, as a stage musical. Comedy writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran say that while there are no plans to bring the show back to the small screen, they are "some way down the line of doing a stage musical". They have long had the desire to bring Goodnight Sweetheart to the stage, and a musical version would follow their other musical projects Dreamboats and Petticoats and Save the Last Dance for Me .

Goodnight Sweetheart was first broadcast on BBC One on 18 November 1993. It starred Nicholas Lyndhurst as married television repair man Gary Sparrow who discovers a time portal down Duckett's Passage in London's East End and is mysteriously transported back to Blitz-torn London in 1940. When all is said and done, it was really comedy about adultery. Laurence Marks In the first episode he wanders into the Royal Oak, which he initially mistakes for a World War Two theme pub. He is instantly attracted to Phoebe Bamford, the daughter of the grumpy landlord. After an air-raid occurs, Gary comes to realise that he's not dreaming and really has gone back in time. He begins to live a double life in both the 1940s and the 1990s. Speaking on the eve of the show's 20th birthday, Gran recalls how he pitched the idea to the BBC head of comedy in the early 1990s.

"I said, basically it's a story of a man who's in love with two women, but one of them is at least 80 and might well be dead." Goodnight Sweetheart ran for six series on BBC One between 1993 and 1999. The initial cast included Michelle Holmes as Gary's wife Yvonne Sparrow, Victor McGuire as his best friend Ron Wheatcroft, while his war-time companions were Christopher Ettridge as bumbling PC Reg Deadman and Dervla Kirwan as Phoebe. One of the running gags of the show is that Gary entertains the war-time locals with hit songs from The Beatles and Elton John, which have yet to be written. Image caption Phoebe (Dervla Kirwan) and Gary (Nicholas Lyndhurst) share a moment in the Royal Oak He also reinvents himself as a British spy who has spent time in America. In the 1990s, Gary's wife Yvonne is unaware that her husband is a time-travelling adulterer, with only Ron in on the secret. "When all is said and done, it was really comedy about adultery," says Marks.

"Because he thinks it's a dream at first," adds Gran, "we realised this gave Gary carte blanche to act in an uninhibited way and pretend to be a songwriter and spy. In the past he's a hero, and in the present he's a nobody Maurice Gran "In the past he's a hero, and in the present he's a nobody." The challenge for Marks and Gran was how to make the duplicitous Gary Sparrow keep the sympathy of the audience. "We knew that in order to make this show succeed we could only cast Nicholas Lyndhurst - because we felt everyone loved him and that no matter what he did people would continue to love him." At the time he was cast, Lyndhurst was already a huge star from playing Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses. Marks and Gran's other TV shows include Birds of a Feather, Relative Strangers, The New Statesman and Shine on Harvey Moon. They decided from the outset that the reason why Gary Sparrow could travel back to the 1940s was "a question we resolved never to answer".

In the third season of the show, Gary sets up a WW2 memorabilia shop in a plaza that has been built on the site of Duckett's Passage. His stock consists of items brought back from war-time London. Like other time travel stories, Goodnight Sweetheart raises questions about the effect that visiting the past can have on the future. Comedian Richard Herring, a self-confessed obsessive of the show, has bemoaned Garry Sparrow's paucity of ambition. "He could have become the wealthiest man in the world or killed Hitler, or at least checked out the next pub down the road to make sure that the barmaid there wasn't better looking," he wrote earlier this year. "Gary changed the lives of the people he came into contact with, he couldn't change events," asserts Marks. Image caption Emma Amos (left) played Yvonne and Elizabeth Carling played Phoebe in series four-to-six "We never once sat down and said, 'Why don't we write an episode where he kills Hitler?' No. It was a domestic comedy. It was a love story." Twenty years on from its first episode, Goodnight Sweetheart still enjoys a devoted fan base.

"It's left a huge lasting impression all over the world judging by the emails we receive," says Marks. Among the dozens of emails that arrive each week are many requesting a special episode that catches up with Gary, who [SPOILER ALERT - skip this bit if you don't want to know how the series ends] who was last seen on VE Day in May 1945. "The reason we stopped it when the war ended is that it needs jeopardy to drive it," explains Gran. So what are the latest plans for the stage version of Goodnight Sweetheart? The writers say it could come as early as 2014 and would feature music from the 1940s and the 1980s. "It would reflect the series," says Marks. "It would be a much more elaborate story and it would contain the same characters.

"I think there is life in Gary Sparrow yet." GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART CAST REUNITES FOR ONE-OFF SPECIAL | Fremantle Media GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART CAST REUNITES FOR ONE-OFF SPECIAL 5 August 2016 Nicholas Lyndhurst’s time travelling Gary Sparrow will be joined by some very familiar faces when the much-loved 90s comedy series Goodnight Sweetheart returns to BBC One as part of the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season. Elizabeth Carling and Emma Amos will be reprising their roles as Gary’s wives Phoebe and Yvonne, Christopher Ettridge returns as P.C. Reg Deadman and Victor McGuire is back as Gary’s best friend, Ron Wheatcroft. Also joining the cast for the one-off special is Tim Preston as Gary and Phoebe’s son Michael Sparrow, a returning character from the original series now a teenager; and Esme Coy as Yvonne Sparrow’s 21st century daughter, Ellie. Esme is also Emma Amos’s real life daughter and they are appearing on screen together for the first time. The cast was today pictured at the read-through in central London.

The Goodnight Sweetheart cast includes: Gary Sparrow – Nicholas Lyndhurst Ron Wheatcroft – Victor McGuire (not pictured) Reg Deadman – Christopher Ettridge Phone Shop salesman Kyle – Khali Best It has been 17 years since Nicholas Lyndhurst played the character of Gary Sparrow, a former TV repairman and accidental time traveller who leads an extraordinary double life. Now the original creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (Birds of a Feather, The New Statesman) have written a brand new script which sees Gary Sparrow face the consequences of his time travel and go somewhere he’s never been before, as Goodnight Sweetheart is about to be catapulted into the 21st century. Goodnight Sweetheart will be part of the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season celebrating the heritage and legacy of BBC comedy over the past 60 years. The season which airs in the autumn will be revisiting some of Britain’s iconic sitcoms including Are You Being Served?, Porridge and Young Hyacinth, a prequel to Keeping Up Appearances, alongside launching brand new comedy shows including Motherland and Home from Home.

Goodnight Sweetheart was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC Channels and iPlayer and Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning. It will be produced by legendary sitcom producer Humphrey Barclay and executive produced by Jon Rolph for Retort, the FremantleMedia UK label specialising in scripted comedy, which produces or co-produces series such as Count Arthur Strong, Birds of a Feather and Chewing Gum. Goodnight Sweetheart to return for one-off special - BBC News Goodnight Sweetheart to return for one-off special 5 July 2016 Close share panel Image caption Michelle Holmes and Dervla Kirwan starred as Lyndhurst's love interests in the show Actor Nicholas Lyndhurst is to take a step back in time in a revival of the BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. Lyndhurst starred as a time-travelling TV repairman who had a second life in 1940s London in the popular 1990s show. Writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran said his character Gary Sparrow had been "trying for the last 17 years to find a way back to the present".

The one-off special will be part of a season marking the 60th anniversary of Hancock's Half Hour's first broadcast. The season will also include new episodes of Are You Being Served?, Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Porridge, Keeping Up Appearances and Up Pompeii!. Image caption The show saw Sparrow reinvent himself as a British spy who has spent time in America Goodnight Sweetheart was first broadcast on BBC One on 18 November 1993. The initial cast included Michelle Holmes as Gary's wife Yvonne Sparrow, Victor McGuire as his best friend Ron Wheatcroft, while his war-time companions were Christopher Ettridge as bumbling PC Reg Deadman and Dervla Kirwan as Phoebe. The writing duo said the new episode would feature "much-loved old Goodnight Sweetheart friends and one or two new ones". BBC Comedy Commissioning controller Shane Allen said the whole season was "geared towards giving comedy royalty their due recognition". "In Goodnight Sweetheart, we have heavyweight writing and performing talents reunited in this hugely popular and fondly remembered show," he said.

"The conceptual update is sublime and it was heart-skipping stuff to read - it's an absolute belter." Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts , on Instagram at bbcnewsents , or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk . "Goodnight Sweetheart" Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb trailers and videos full cast and crew trivia official sites memorable quotes Overview 33 out of 35 people found the following review useful: Gentle comedy from United Kingdom 13 May 2006 This is a lovely, gentle comedy. Nicholas Lyndhurst proves his versatility in his portrayal of Gary Sparrow, a man genuinely torn between two women. The two female leads are also interesting - sarcastic Yvonne, dynamic yet insecure and practical Pheobe, strong but also insecure. Despite the fact that he is a cheat, you find yourself sympathising with Gary's situation. He loves and needs both women, and his struggle is agonising. Some of the episodes are a bit predictable, but even this is forgivable and the series as a whole is well worth a watch. The music, clothing and behaviour of the characters is nostalgic, touching, funny and sad all at once. Fabulous! Was the above review useful to you?

29 out of 32 people found the following review useful: Brilliantly amusing English time travel TV series. from Sydney, Australia 14 December 1998 This brilliantly amusing English time travel TV series concerns the dual life of Gary Sparrow, a self-centred coward who journeys back and forth between modern day London and the London of World War 2. Gary loves two women equally, runs a collectables shop specialising in, you guessed it, WW2 nostalgia, and has a long-suffering friend, Ron, the only one in whom he confides. A fine cast and faultless scripts will quickly hook you as it did this jaded TV buff.. Was the above review useful to you? 26 out of 28 people found the following review useful: A great show, much missed! from London, England, UK 24 November 2006 Goodnight Sweetheart was a highly entertaining comedy that used a sci-fi plot device as its driving force. However, the heart of show was always Gary Sparrow's(Lyndhurst) interaction with the historical events occurring around him. Gary's endearing best friend Ron(played by Victor McGuire) was one of my favourite characters.

As the time-travel takes place during the six years of World War 2,(in parallel with the 90s) it was always inevitable that the show would end after the war had fully played out. Gary's relationship with his wives in both eras was never easy, adding an element of drama to the show. I miss this show greatly as it was always funny and a delight to watch. The brilliance of this comedy was always underrated in my opinion. I love this show! 5 May 2005 *** This review may contain spoilers *** Love this Show, I would not miss it, takes me back to the 40's and makes one realize just how lucky we are now, although we complain about things, We had it tough in those days. The program is amusing, and that is what is was meant to be. Think all the Actors played their parts very well, Loved Ron and Reg. The American Episode was near the mark, they thought they had won the war for us. And that is what they were like. I remember the Underground Stations-Air Raid Shelters. Loved the Noel Coward Episodes. Seeing the Ritz. OH!

Yes Did I tell you that I love the Show, it is still on here in Sydney on UK TV. Thanks to the Actors and Writers etc: Was the above review useful to you? 12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Charming 21 June 2006 *** This review may contain spoilers *** This is a charming comedy show, which uses a single sci-fi device - a time portal - to create the whole series. The 'hero' lives two lives with two women, but he does not fear discovery, for each are 50 years apart in time. There are some wonderful temporal paradox scenes, and the writers do explore many of the possibilities that the situation would allow. The cast is fine, my own favourite being Gary's friend Ron, his only confidant about the time portal, who does eventually manage to use it too. Gary is from the 1990s and of course has full knowledge of wartime events Was the above review useful to you? 11 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Worth Watching!

from W.Sussex, England 20 December 2006 Great series worth watching, although for me I preferred the earlier episodes when Dervla Kirwin played Phoebe. The actress who played her in the later episodes was much harder - Phoebe was a tough little cockney girl, but there was still an appealing softness about her which was lacking after the changeover, whereas both actresses who played Yvonne were great. Nick Lyndhurst as Gary was brilliant, and loved his sidekick, Ron. The only thing I really felt towards the end was that the plot had grown somewhat exaggerated... probably hence my preference for the earlier series which were more convincing. But I have all of them on DVD and thoroughly enjoying revisting the series after originally seeing it on TV. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Outstanding Time Travel Sitcom 4 August 2010 *** This review may contain spoilers *** 'Goodnight Sweetheart' was one of the classic British sitcoms from the 1990's.

It was on in a decade where we enjoyed 'One Foot in the Grave' 'Men Behaving Badly' and 'Father Ted' Though quite rightly, the seventies is regarded as the golden era of British sitcom, the nineties were also right up there in my opinion. Gary Sparrow (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is just an ordinary man. He's a TV repairman. He's married to the sarcastic Yvonne (Michelle Holmes) and his best mate is Ron (Victor McGuire). One day, he is called to a place called Ducket's Passage, he goes down the road and he time travels back to 1940's London, where the Blitz is taking place. He goes into a pub called the Royal Oak. The Landlord is Eric(David Ryall) and he owns the pub with his daughter Phoebe (Dervla Kerwin). Gary begins dating Phoebe in war time London, posing as an MI5 agent. This leads to him stuck between two worlds. The second series begins with the news Eric has died in an air raid, so pub regular and policeman PC Reg Deadman (Christoper Ettridge) begins working in the pub part-time.

However though it looks as though Gary's time travelling life could be over come the third series, when workmen start building on Ducket's Passage. He has to wait until the shops they are building are built and he opens a shop called 'Blitz and Pieces' where he sells War memorabilia he picks up from the 1940's for practically nothing and sells them. Series four sees Gary and Phoebe marry, so Gary in some ways becomes a bigamist and Phoebe also gives birth, so Gary has a Son named Michael. Series five sees Yvonne become a multi millionaire and Gary and Phoebe buy a flat up west and live a floor below Noel Coward (David Benson). As Gary owns the flat, Ron moves into it in the present day. The final series sees the whole saga resolved and Gary gets stuck in 1945. The fourth series saw two major cast changes with Michelle Holmes and Dervla Kerwin leaving and being replaced by Emma Amos and Elizabeth Carling. I did prefer Holmes as Yvonne than Carling as Holmes was a bit more sarcastic. Yet it didn't really effect the series that much as without doubt the later episodes were the best.

Nicholas Lyndhurst was outstanding as Gary, as was Victor McGuire as Ron and Christopher Etteridge as Reg. The later episodes were the better ones in my opinion, as the plots became much more adventurous and led to some of the best episodes. It is little surprise therefore to see the classic episodes appearing in the latter half of the sitcom, such as 'The Leaving of Liverpool' where Gary and Phoebe visit Phoebe's Grandmother in Liverpool. A great two parter was 'We Don't Want to Lose You' followed by 'But we think we're going to have to' where Gary has to take on the Nazi's with the help of the French resistance. Another classic was 'The 'ouses' Between Us' where Gary goes through the wrong time gate and ends up in 1888 and he solves why Jack the Ripper was never caught. But the best episode for me was 'When Two World's Collide' where Phoebe ends up in the 1990's and there's a brief moment where she meets Yvonne. The episode after due to an uncontrolled time gate sees Ron in the 1940's much to Gary's annoyance.

Due to it being a romantic sitcom, not every episode was hilarious though all were well written, with wonderful plotting and many episodes were very funny and led to pain in laughter. Yet it was also full of dramatic moments as well, such as when Gary meets Reg in 1998 where he is suffering from dementia. Another very sad moment was when nobody attended Reg's Police retirement party. It was very sad for me as by that point Reg had emerged as my favourite character in the series. 'Goodnight Sweetheart' continues to get repeated on ITV3 and all the episodes can be enjoyed on DVD. It is a classic sitcom in my opinion. You also learn a lot as well from a Historical point of view. If I could be any sitcom character, I would be Gary Sparrow, being able to time travel with two women on the go would be awesome. Was the above review useful to you? 8 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Lets continue where we left off in 1945 from United Kingdom 4 February 2007 My family and I watched every episode of Goodnight Sweetheart and found it brilliant. It contained comedy, serious moments, and noted both it's nostalgic and modern content.

The script writers were brilliant. However, I feel, as I am sure millions of others feel, it should return to our screens, continuing from where it left off. It had so many open ends, and could continue in any direction, even down to Ron or Phoebe being able to step through time.. What happened to the night club? where did Garry and Phoebe vanish to? There were dozens of other unanswered questions, so many that I would need more than a thousand words. So come on BBC, how about some more Goodnight Sweetheart that would bring "Millions" of viewers flocking back to you.....Any Chance?. Was the above review useful to you? 5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Underrated British comedy! 4 April 2008 Goodnight sweetheart is one of the most underrated British comedies to date. Brilliant plot, superb characters and the story lines get better and better as the series goes on. Perhaps people's perceptions of this great show are tainted by the fact Nicholas Lyndhurst plays the main character as people still see him as "Rodney".

In GNSH Lyndhurst is able to show what a great actor he is unlike his previous one dimensional character in "Only fools " He is joined by a great cast which really makes the show more enjoyable to watch. It is light hearted, foolhardy and slapstick. If you're interested in time travel and comedy then this is for you. If you love British comedy then this is for you. Awesome! I wish it would make some kind of comeback. I'm in the process of writing a "spin-off" of the show based on Gary Sparrow's grandson for a university assignment. How amazing it would be if something like this actually came true! Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: One of the best shows ever! from Ireland 24 June 2010 I don't think there's anything about this show I don't like, the comedy is top notch, the actors are perfect for their roles and the mix of Sci-Fi is just right, not too heavy handed. For comedy lovers it's a must see, for sci-fi fans it's a must see, for people with a heartbeat it's a must see.

Lyndhurst and McGuire are perfect, you'd really believe they're best friends, the chemistry between all the actors is amazing. Hats off to the casting crew and direction. Actually the only flaw I can think of about this show is that it ended. After all, what show could make you nostalgic for a time period you weren't even alive in? I'd give it a 20 rating if I could. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 3: Beloved BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart returning for one-off special... as writers are determined to bring hapless lead character Gary Sparrow 'back to the future' :: Jenkers Beloved BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart returning for one-off special... as writers are determined to bring hapless lead character Gary Sparrow 'back to the future' Beloved BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart is returning to screens. The show, starring actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, told the story of a time-travelling TV repairman with a second life in 1940s London, with relationships in the past and present.

After hitting screens in 1993, the popular series will return as a one-off special as part of an anniversary special to mark 60 years since the launch of Hancock's Half Hour. Going back in time: Beloved BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart is returning to screens The anniversary celebrations for the BBC radio comedy, and later television series, which broadcast from 1954 to 1961, will see the return of a host of TV favourites. Nicholas played Gary Sparrow in the show - an accidental time traveller leading a double life after he discovered a time portal, bringing him away from his unhappy marriage to ambitious wife Yvonne. The magical device allowed him to travel between Nineties London and the same area during the Second World War, where he begins a relationship with Phoebe, who he eventually marries. The programme, which ran for six seasons with 58 episodes before wrapping up in 1999, followed Gary's struggles to maintain his double life in both the past and the present.

Double life: After hitting screens in 1993, the popular series will return as a one-off special as part of an anniversary special to mark 60 years since the launch of Hancock's Half Hour Other cast members included included Michelle Holmes as Yvonne, Dervla Kirwan as Phoebe and Victor McGuire as his best friend Ron Wheatcroft. In a touching sentiments, the show's writers, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran said Gary had been 'trying for the last 17 years to find a way back to the present'. BBC Comedy Commissioning controller Shane Allen revealed the anniversary series 'geared towards giving comedy royalty their due recognition' Back to the present: In a touching sentiments, the show's writers, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran said Gary had been 'tying for the last 17 years to find a way back to the present' He said: 'In Goodnight Sweetheart, we have heavyweight writing and performing talents reunited in this hugely popular and fondly remembered show.

'The conceptual update is sublime and it was heart-skipping stuff to read - it's an absolute belter.' Other classic shows set to return include Are You Being Served?, Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Porridge, Keeping Up Appearances and Up Pompeii!. Back in the day: The magical device allowed him to travel between Nineties London and the same area during the Second World War, where he begins a relationship with Phoebe, who he eventually marries Goodnight Sweetheart is coming back - but where are the original stars of the cult 90s sitcom now? Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Comments IT was announced yesterday that everyone’s favourite accidental time traveller Gary Sparrow will return to our screens for a one-off Goodnight Sweetheart revival. Nicholas Lyndhurst will reprise his role as the former TV repairman as part of the BBC’s landmark sitcom season. BBC 12 Goodnight Sweetheart will return for a one-off special The popular cult 90s show, which jumped between London during WWII and the modern day, ran for six series.

In the final episode Gary confessed his time-travelling to present-day wife Yvonne and made a trip back to celebrate VE Day with wartime wife Phoebe – during which he discovered the time portal had closed and he couldn’t return to the nineties. While Lyndhurst has been confirmed for the revival, creators and writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have not yet revealed which former cast members will be joining him. This got us thinking - what are the original stars of the series up to now? BBC What are the original stars up to now? Nicholas Lyndhurst - Gary Sparrow Having made his name as Rodney in Only Fools and Horses, Lyndhurst has remained a familiar face on our screens. He starred as Jimmy in BBC comedy series After You've Gone alongside Celia Imrie and more recently as Danny Griffin in police drama New Tricks.

BBC Celebrity couples who dramatically reunited after going their separate ways Girls go wild Holly Willoughby and Davina McCall get dramatic makeovers as they lark about on the set of hair ad Victor McGuire - Ron Wheatcroft Ron was Gary's best mate and confidant on the show, and as a printer with his own business he was able to provide him with appropriate war time currency and documentation. BBC 12 Ron, pictured in the middle, was Gary's best mate on the show After the series ended McGuire continued to go from strength to strength in his career, with roles in Peak Practice, Casualty, Heartbeat and Trollied. He also hit the big screen, playing Gerald Hardy in The Woman in Black, Bailiff Pennyways in Far from the Madding Crowd and Bar Patron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Sky 1 McGuire went on to star in numerous small screen dramas, including Trollied Michelle Holmes - Yvonne Sparrow Holmes was already a household name, having played Rovers Return barmaid Tina Fowler on Coronation Street. She played Yvonne for three series before returning to her soap roots in 1995 as bar manageress Britt Woods - wife to Terry.

ITV Holmes went on to make a name for herself in soapland - most notably as Terry's wife Britt Woods This was her second time on Emmerdale - she first popped up in 1992 as Lindsay Carmichael. Holmes was replaced on Goodnight Sweetheart by Emma Amos. Since the final episode Amos has appeared in a range of British television series including Casualty, A Touch of Frost, Peak Practice, The Bill, Heartbeat, My Family and Doctors. She has also been seen in the feature films Vera Drake and Bridget Jones's Diary. PA:Press Association Holmes was replaced on the show by Emma Amos, left, while Elizabeth Carling, right, was cast as the new Phoebe Dervla Kirwan - Phoebe Bamford Many viewers will remember Kirwan as the original Phoebe, before she left the show at the end of series three. She went on to star in BBC drama Ballykissangel, alongside Stephen Tompkinson, had a guest appearance in Doctor Who, and has more recently moved to the big screen with roles in Silent Hours, Entity and short film Red.

BBC More recently Kirwan can be found on the big screen, pictured here in Red She was replaced on Goodnight Sweetheart by Elizabeth Carling. When the sitcom came to end, Carling landed the role of Dr Selena Donovan for three years in Casualty. BBC Kirwan was replaced on Goodnight Sweetheart by Elizabeth Carling Christopher Ettridge - Reg Deadman East End bobby on the beat Reg was a regular patron of the Royal Oak in 1940s London and a close pal of Phoebe and her dad, Eric. BBC 12 Reg became the butt of everyone's jokes on the show Since Goodnight Sweetheart Ettridge has had roles in EastEnders, The Bill, Harry Enfield and Chums, Julius Caesar and Hitler: The Rise of Evil. He also played the postman in the 2000 comedy film Kevin and Perry Go Large. In recent years he's turned his hand to stage directing.

Not known Bigamy, infidelity, Nicholas Lyndhurst: why Goodnight Sweetheart is the most subversive mainstream sitcom of our time Bigamy, infidelity, Nicholas Lyndhurst: why Goodnight Sweetheart is the most subversive mainstream sitcom of our time Nicholas Lyndhurst, Liz Carling, and Christopher Ettridge in Goodnight Sweetheart Michael Hogan 9 July 2016 • 1:13pm There aren’t many sitcoms about a grown man pretending to be a spy who wrote The Beatles ’ back catalogue. Who also befriends Noel Coward, saves Clement Attlee’s life, and meets George VI, the Kray twins and Winston Churchill . Then again, time-travelling oddity Goodnight Sweetheart was no ordinary sitcom . Eyebrows raised and brows furrowed this week at surprise news that the Nicholas Lyndhurst vehicle is returning to BBC One for a special standalone episode. Talk about a blast from the past. It’s part of the BBC’s landmark sitcom season, celebrating 60 years of BBC mirth alongside revivals of Porridge , Steptoe & Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Up Pompeii!. Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances.

Yet those shows are iconic favourites that have been in regular rotation since they were originally broadcast. Surely Goodnight Sweetheart - the slightly shonky story of time travelling romeo Gary Sparrow, which occasionally gets repeated on ITV3 - doesn’t belong in such exalted comedy company? Actually, to many viewers (including me), it does. Goodnight Sweetheart was much loved and has a doubly nostalgic appeal, cleverly appealing to two demographics which rarely overlap. First, it’s a cult retro treat for the generation who grew up during the 90s, when it first aired. And second, its lovingly recreated 1940s setting is evocative for those of a more mature vintage. Created by writing duo Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (who recently revived another of their hits, Birds Of A Feather), Goodnight Sweetheart followed hapless TV repairman Sparrow, who found himself leading a double life after accidentally discovering a time portal between the present day and the Second World War. In the 1990s, he was married to ambitious Yvonne (played by Coronation Street and Rita, Sue & Bob Too alumnus Michelle Holmes).

In war-torn London, he fell for no-nonsense East End barmaid Phoebe (Irish actress and the voice of those M&S food ads, Dervla Kirwan) - who he eventually married as well. Yes, it plays infidelity and bigamy for laughs. As one Twitter user put it to me this week, when I tweeted excitedly about Goodnight’s Sweetheart’s shock comeback: “If you had the opportunity to travel back in time, would you kill Hitler or Lee Harvey Oswald? No, you'd make friends with a hapless policeman and become a philanderer.” Other cast members included Victor “Jack from Bread” McGuire as the hero’s best mate Ron (a printer, handily, so he could supply Gary with ration books and defunct currency) and Christopher Ettridge as dimwit local bobby PC Reg Deadman. The ensemble’s timezone-straddling antics made the show a ratings hit and by stealth, it went on to run for 58 episodes across six series. Dervla Kirwan shot to fame off the back of the show and soon landed a role in hit Sunday night drama Ballykissangel.

In fact, both female leads left the show after series three, to be replaced by not-quite-as-good actresses who vaguely resembled them (Elizabeth Carling and Emma Amos). This was the moment when even us loyal fans deemed the show had jumped the shark, going from cult treat to naff guilty pleasure. Now, 17 years after hanging up his felt fedora for the final time, Lyndhurst will reprise his role. Marks and Gran’s new script sees Sparrow “face the consequences of his time travel and go somewhere he’s never been before”. Quite possibly to prison for bigamy, fraud and identity theft. You see, for a seemingly gentle mainstream sitcom, Goodnight Sweetheart was strangely subversive. It was admirably high-concept, like a Britcom version of Back To The Future . Outlander in an Anderson Shelter. A mash-up of ’Allo ‘Allo and Doctor Who. Woody Allen basically nicked its premise for Midnight In Paris, casting Owen Wilson instead of Rodney from Only Fools & Horses.

It had dark depths - see the storyline where Sparrow fathered a child in the 40s, while his wife miscarried in the 90s It had dark depths - see the storyline where Sparrow fathered a child in the 40s, while his wife miscarried in the 90s. Or where he went back even further in time to Victorian era and was mistaken for Jack The Ripper. The anti-hero got entangled in his web of lies, wracked with guilt about deceiving both lovers. The series grew from traditional sitcom fare into something more bittersweet and melancholy. Goodnight Sweetheart was playful with its time-hop conceit, too. Sparrow used his knowledge of future events to appear well-connected and clever, passing off inventions and Beatles compositions as his own. He smuggled wartime items back to the present day and opened a memorabilia shop called "Blitz & Pieces”. See what he did there? The 1940s setting was convincingly conjured up - as it was in a previous Marks & Gran hit, Shine On Harvey Moon.

All the episode titles are names of songs from the era, often with a wistful double meaning: I Get Along Without You Very Well, Don't Fence Me In, I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good, Love the One You're With. This week, all manner of secret Goodnight Sweetheart fans have been coming out of the closet. Comedian Richard Herring wrote a column about being “obsessed”. It trended on Twitter. There’s been talk of a stage musical version. Marks and Gran say they’ve received thousands of letters and emails over the intervening years, begging for more episodes. Now those fans - including me, Richard Herring and half of Twitter - are getting their wish. This underrated gem is finally getting its dues. Let’s just draw a discreet veil over the Rolf Harris episode, shall we? 3 16 Jan 2017, 5:30pm BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart returning for one-off special | Daily Mail Online comments Beloved BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart is returning to screens.

The show, starring actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, told the story of a time-travelling TV repairman with a second life in 1940s London, with relationships in the past and present. After hitting screens in 1993, the popular series will return as a one-off special as part of an anniversary special to mark 60 years since the launch of Hancock's Half Hour. Scroll down for video Going back in time: Beloved BBC sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart is returning to screens The anniversary celebrations for the BBC radio comedy, and later television series, which broadcast from 1954 to 1961, will see the return of a host of TV favourites. Nicholas played Gary Sparrow in the show - an accidental time traveller leading a double life after he discovered a time portal, bringing him away from his unhappy marriage to ambitious wife Yvonne. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share The magical device allowed him to travel between Nineties London and the same area during the Second World War, where he begins a relationship with Phoebe, who he eventually marries.

The programme, which ran for six seasons with 58 episodes before wrapping up in 1999, followed Gary's struggles to maintain his double life in both the past and the present. Double life: After hitting screens in 1993, the popular series will return as a one-off special as part of an anniversary special to mark 60 years since the launch of Hancock's Half Hour Other cast members included included Michelle Holmes as Yvonne, Dervla Kirwan as Phoebe and Victor McGuire as his best friend Ron Wheatcroft. In a touching sentiments, the show's writers, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran said Gary had been 'trying for the last 17 years to find a way back to the present'. BBC Comedy Commissioning controller Shane Allen revealed the anniversary series 'geared towards giving comedy royalty their due recognition' Back to the present: In a touching sentiments, the show's writers, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran said Gary had been 'tying for the last 17 years to find a way back to the present' He said: 'In Goodnight Sweetheart, we have heavyweight writing and performing talents reunited in this hugely popular and fondly remembered show.

'The conceptual update is sublime and it was heart-skipping stuff to read - it's an absolute belter.' Other classic shows set to return include Are You Being Served?, Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Porridge, Keeping Up Appearances and Up Pompeii!. Back in the day: The magical device allowed him to travel between Nineties London and the same area during the Second World War, where he begins a relationship with Phoebe, who he eventually marries

Question: Who played the time travelling Gary Sparrow in the sitcom "Goodnight Sweetheart"?
Answer: Nicholas Lyndhurst